Effect Of Electrostatic Interactions Research Articles

Triadic Halobenzene Processing Additive Combined Advantages of Both Solvent and Solid Types for Efficient and Stable Organic Solar Cells.

Solvent additives with a high boiling point (BP) and low vapor pressure (VP) have formed a key handle for improving the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, it is not always clear whether they remain in the active-layer film after deposition, which can negatively affect the reproducibility and stability of OSCs. In this study, an easily removable solvent additive (4-chloro-2-fluoroiodobenzene (CFIB)) with a low BP and high VP is introduced, behaving like volatile solid additives that can be completely removed during the device fabrication process. In-depth studies of CFIB addition into the D18-Cl donor and N3 acceptor validate its dominant non-covalent intermolecular interactions with N3 through effective electrostatic interactions. Such phenomena improve charge dynamics and kinetics by optimizing the morphology, leading to enhanced performance of D18-Cl:N3-based devices with a power conversion efficiency of 18.54%. The CFIB-treated device exhibits exceptional thermal stability (T80 lifetime = 120h) at 85°C compared with the CFIB-free device, because of its morphological robustness by evolving no residual CFIB in the film. The CFIB features a combination of advantages of solvent (easy application) and solid (high volatility) additives, demonstrating its great potential use in the commercial mass production of OSCs.

An Injectable Hydrogel Composing Anti-Inflammatory and Osteogenic Therapy toward Bone Erosions Microenvironment Remodeling in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Healing bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains greatly challenging via biomaterial strategies. Given the unsuccessful innate bone erosion healing due to an inflammatory disorder, over-activated osteoclasts, and impaired osteoblasts differentiation, RA pathogenesis-guided engineering of an innovative hydrogel platform is needed for remodeling osteoimmune and osteogenic microenvironment of bone erosion healing. Herein, in situ adaptable and injectable interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel is developed through an ingenious combination of a bio-orthogonal reaction between hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen, along with effective electrostatic interactions leveraging bisphosphonate (BP)-functionalized HA macromers (HABP) and nanorod shaped zinc (Zn)-doped biphasic calcium phosphate (ZnBCP). IPN hydrogel exhibits exceptional adaptability to the local shape complexity at bone erosions, and by integrating ZnBCP and HABP, a multi-stage releasing platform is engineered, facilitating controlled cargo delivery for remodeling more anti-inflammatory M2 cells and reducing over-activated osteoclastic activities, thereby reconstructing the bone regeneration microenvironment. Sustainedly co-delivering multiple ions (calcium and phosphate) can display excellent osteogenic properties and be conducive to the bone formation process, by effects of osteogenesis-associated cell differentiation. Overall, the introduced bioactive IPN hydrogel therapy remodels the osteoimmune environment by synergistic pro-inflammation-resolving, osteogenesis, and anti-osteoclastic activities, displaying excellent bone reconstruction in the collagen-induced arthritis rabbit model.

Inferring effective electrostatic interaction of charge-stabilized colloids from scattering using deep learning

An innovative strategy is presented that incorporates deep auto-encoder networks into a least-squares fitting framework to address the potential inversion problem in small-angle scattering. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, a detailed case study focusing on charged colloidal suspensions was carried out. The results clearly indicate that a deep learning solution offers a reliable and quantitative method for studying molecular interactions. The approach surpasses existing deterministic approaches with respect to both numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential of deep learning techniques in tackling complex problems in soft-matter structures and beyond.

N/P co-doped MXene hollow microcapsules by surfactants assisted hydrothermal-freeze drying for adjustable permeability

The assembly of MXene materials into microcapsules has drawn great attentions due to their unique properties. However, rational design and synthesis of MXene-based microcapsules with specific nanostructures at the molecular scale remains challenging. Herein, we report a strategy to synthesize N/P co-doped MXene hollow flower-like microcapsules with adjustable permeability via dual surfactants assisted hydrothermal-freeze drying method. In contrast to anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants exhibited effective electrostatic interactions with MXene nanosheets during the hydrothermal process. Manipulation of dual surfactants in hydrothermal process realized N and P co-doping of MXene to improve flexibility and promoted the generation of abundant internal cavities in flower-like microcapsules. Based on the unique microstructure, the prepared hollow flower-like microcapsules showed excellent performance, stability and reusability in size-selective release of small organic molecules. Moreover, the release rate can be controlled by turning the oxidation state and type of MXene. The strategy delineates promising prospects for the design of MXene-based microcapsules with specific structures.

Effect of Superhydrophobic Catalyst Layers on PEMFC Durability

High durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is one main objective of this technology nowadays. Among different ways, the use of a superhydrophobic catalyst layer in the cathode may help to increase the stability of the cell under operation. Superhydrophobic cathodic layers improve water management in the cell by enhancing the back-diffusion transport from cathode to anode. As a consequence, anode humidification is favored whereas flooding of the cathode is avoided, leading to higher cell response at intermediate and high current densities [1]. Superhydrophobic catalyst layers can be obtained by adding specific agents to the precursor ink that is later deposited together with the catalyst and the ionomer. Another possibility is the use of electrospray deposition, which does not require additives. Electrospray is a dry deposition method where the ink is deposited under an electric field, yielding particular ionomer distribution inside the pores of the layer as a consequence of electrostatic interactions.Accelerated stress tests (AST) are well stablished protocols to analyze durability of PEMFCs in a systematic and reduced time frame [2]. Protocols for stressing different components of the cell have been proposed. In this work, different cell configurations have been mounted, using electrosprayed catalyst layers in cathode, anode, and both. The cells have been submitted to an AST that affects mainly the cathodic catalyst layer. The study is complemented with microscopy analysis (cross-sectional) and local mechanical properties (small-punch) (Fig. 1).The results show the effect of superhydrophobic cathodic catalyst layers on the durability of a PEMFC.AcknowledgementsFunding by PORHYDRO2 project (TED2021-131620B-C22, ‘Preparation and characterisation of catalyst layers fabricated by electrospray for proton exchange fuel cells with passive gas feed’) by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.[1] M.A. Folgado, J.J. Conde, P. Ferreira-Aparicio, A.M. Chaparro, Single Cell Study of Water Transport in PEMFCs with Electrosprayed Catalyst Layers, Fuel Cells. 18 (2018) 602–612. https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201700217.[2] S. Stariha, N. Macauley, B.T. Sneed, D. Langlois, K.L. More, R. Mukundan, R.L. Borup, Recent Advances in Catalyst Accelerated Stress Tests for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, J. Electrochem. Soc. 165 (2018) F492–F501. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0881807jes.[3] R. Hernández, S. Merino, D. Plaza, L. Duque, M.A. Folgado, A.M. Chaparro, M. Serrano, G. de Diego, Study of Mechanical Properties of Membrane-Electrode Assemblies for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells By the Small-Punch Technique, ECS Meet. Abstr. MA2022-02 (2022) 1426–1426. https://doi.org/10.1149/ma2022-02391426mtgabs. Figure 1

Atomic layer deposition-fabricated two-dimensional MoO3-WO3 nanohybrid thin-film electrode for ultrasensitive and interference-free detection of dopamine

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors and their hybrid electrodes show great promise in the advancement of neural sensors for detecting neurotransmitters either through implantation on the brain's surface or by direct detection in biological fluids. This research demonstrated the fabrication of a sub-10 nm thick 2D MoO3-WO3 heterostructure electrode via atomic layer deposition (ALD) for the first time to detect dopamine (DA). The developed thin-film with uniform surface morphology possessed monoclinic and orthorhombic crystal structures of WO3 and MoO3, respectively, with the presence of oxygen vacancies and their sub-stoichiometric phases. The MoO3-WO3 sensor showed excellent catalytic activity for the interference-free detection of DA by suppressing the redox activity of common interferences, ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). The ultra-sensitivity of DA oxidation can be ascribed to the effective electrostatic interaction and chemical coordination between the positively charged DA (at pH 7.0) and the MoO3-WO3. In contrast, the predominant electrostatic repulsive force between the negatively charged AA and UA (at pH 7.0) and the MoO3-WO3 suppressed their electrochemical responses. The sensor showed a nanomolar detection limit (20 nM) and a wide linear range for DA detection, which is highly appropriate for its determination in biological samples. Additionally, the sensor demonstrated excellent electrochemical stability, high reproducibility, and good recoveries of DA determination in diluted human serum samples.

Excitonic Floquet states in quantum wire

We use Floquet theory to study the effects of laser light coupling to an electron–hole pair confined in a quantum wire. Fast oscillating electric field directed along the wire continuously displaces spatially the electron and hole in opposite directions, that influences on effective time-averaged electrostatic interaction by shallowing its minimum. Renormalization of binding energy leaves distinctive stamp in Floquet energy spectra because both the ponderomotive and confining energies may be neglected in considered perturbative regime. Due to renormalization of binding energy the blueshifted dressed exciton’s energy states form crossings and avoided crossings in energy spectra while their oscillator strengths are gradually reduced for increasing laser intensity, these features are strongly dependent on spatial sizes of wire. Discussed properties of Floquet exciton confined in QWr could potentially be used to build the fast terahertz optical bright-dark state switcher or to realize Floquet-Landau-Zener transition.

Effective electrostatic interaction between columnar colloids: roles of solvent steric hindrance, polarity, and surface geometric characteristics

In the present work, coupling between the electrostatic interaction and solvent steric hindrance, and solvent polarity are studied by classical density functional theory with emphasis on their influence on the effective electrostatic potential between two similarly charged and parallel cylinder surfaces immersed in electrolyte solution.Several conclusions are confirmed. First, solvent steric hindrance always enhances the effective electrostatic potential curve oscillation and its first potential well depth or induces the potential well formation even in +1:−1 electrolyte; the enhancing effects are positively correlated with the solvent packing fraction. The curve oscillation is weakened anomalously with the surface charge density strength. Second, with a certain packing fraction of the crowding agent, its diameter has no distinct effect on the oscillation intensity of the effective electrostatic potential curves, but the oscillation period is always equal to the diameter. Third, influences of solvophilicity or solvophobicity of counter- and co-ions on the effective electrostatic potential are different in strength and mode. Strong counter-ion solvophobicity greatly raises the like-charge attraction strength with a simultaneously weakening of the effective electrostatic potential oscillation, and vice versa; solvophobicity or solvophilicity of co-ion influences the effective electrostatic potential curve in a less obvious way by translating it up/down, respectively; more specifically, the curve morphology is rarely changed. Fourth, it is illustrated that high counter-ion valence and high surface charge are not necessary conditions (confirmed in previous literature) of the surface charge reversal occurrence; counter-ion solvophobicity induces the charge reversal at far milder conditions: univalent counter-ion, lower bulk concentration, and lower surface charge strength. Fifth, by comparing with previous two works on the effects of solvent granularity on the effective electrostatic potential in flat and spherical slits, we conclude that the flat slit contact potential is always repulsive, the spherical slit contact potential can be very attractive, and the present cylinder slit contact potential is between the two.

Interfacial construction between reduced graphene oxide and iron oxide induced high electrochemical performance for flexible battery

Fiber-shaped Ni/Fe batteries with high safety, cheap cost, and environmental friendliness have a wide range of applications in wearable and portable devices. However, their development is limited by the sluggish kinetics of the Fe-based anode. Herein, a well-designed fibrous Fe-based anode containing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Fe2O3 was constructed by a one-step co-electrodeposition strategy. Theoretical investigations reveal the improved carrier density as a result of the effective electrostatic interaction between rGO and Fe2O3. This interconnected heterostructure builds a bridge for electron transfer and ion diffusion, significantly accelerating the electrochemical reaction kinetics. The as-prepared rGO/Fe2O3 anode delivers an extraordinary volumetric capacity of 40.1 mAh cm−3 along with excellent rate capacity and cyclic stability. After coupling with the NiCoO cathode, the fabricated fibrous quasi-solid-state Ni/Fe battery shows the maximum volumetric energy density and power density of 19.9 mWh cm−3 and 961.6 mW cm−3. Moreover, this fibrous Ni/Fe battery confirms good capacity retention of 82.3% after 10,000 cycles and noteworthy mechanical flexibility. These results suggest a new prospect to design and construct highly efficient Fe-based anodic materials for energy storage.

Application of natural zeolite clinoptilolite for the removal of ammonia in wastewater

This work intends the characterization of the natural zeolite clinoptilolite and its capability in removing the ammonia in wastewater. The natural zeolite clinoptilolite was characterized using transmittance electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and zeta potential prior to the adsorption process. The results showed that the natural zeolite clinoptilolite possessed the lamellar and needle-like structure thus giving the highest surface area for effective adsorption. The main constituent of the element consisted of natural zeolite clinoptilolite is known to have a high affinity towards ammonia. Additionally, the zeta potential analysis has shown that natural zeolite clinoptilolite is negatively charged in all media pH with the highest negative potential of −30 mV recorded at pH 7 thus, contributing to the highly effective electrostatic interaction with the contaminants’ cations. Consequently, the excellent performance in removing ammonia of up to 82.97 % has revealed that the natural zeolite clinoptilolite has a great potential to be developed as a synergized adsorptive ceramic membrane that is combining the adsorption and the filtration of water simultaneously.

In Situ Tetraalkylammonium Ligand Engineering of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Nanoparticles for Enhancing Long-Term Stability and Optical Tunability.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite nanoparticles (OIHP NPs) have attracted scientific attention owing to their efficient photoluminescence with optical tunability, which is highly advantageous for optoelectronic applications. However, the limited long-term stability of OIHP NPs has significantly hindered their practical application. Despite several synthetic strategies and encapsulation methods to stabilize OIHP NPs, complicated multi-step procedures are often required. In this study, we introduce an in situ ligand engineering method for stabilizing and controlling the optical properties of OIHP NPs using tetraalkylammonium (TAA) halides with various molecular structures at different concentrations. Our one-pot ligand engineering substantially enhanced the stability of the OIHP NPs without post-synthetic processes. Moreover, in certain cases, approximately 90% of the initial photoluminescence (PL) intensity was preserved even after a month under ambient conditions (room temperature, 20-50% relative humidity). To determine the role of ligand engineering in stabilizing the OIHP NPs, the surface binding properties of the TAA ligands were thoroughly analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. Specifically, the permanent positive charge of the TAA cations and consequent effective electrostatic interactions with the surfaces of the OIHP NPs are pivotal for preserving the initial PL intensity. Our investigation is beneficial for developing OIHP nanomaterials with improved stability and controlled photoluminescence for various optoelectronic applications, such as light-emitting devices, photosensitizers, photodetectors, photocatalysis, and solar cells.

Fabricating binary cathode interface layer by effective molecular electrostatic potential and interfacial dipole to optimize electron transport and improve organic solar cell

For the cathode interface layer (CIL) in organic solar cells (OSC), its molecule quantum chemistry properties are important for the transportation and collection of electrons. To enhance CIL, we design and synthesize a D-A CIL small molecule 2-((5-(4-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrol-2-yl)thiophen-2-yl)methylene)-1H-indene-1,3(2H)-dione (TSY) to optimize the electrostatic potential (ESP) of molecule surface in CIL. Due to the alternating arrangement of optimized positive and negative ESP regions of TSY, the TSY-based PM6:Y6 OSC achieves a JSC of 25.56 mA cm−2 and a PCE of 13.50%. However, the dipole of the PDINO/Al interface facilitates electron transport to the electrode more efficiently than TSY/Al. Therefore, we further constructed TSY:PDINO blend binary CILs to explore the facilitation of electron transport by making good use of CIL molecule ESP and interfacial dipole. Combining the effective electrostatic interaction and electron transfer properties between TSY and PDINO molecules, the TSY:PDINO OSC obtains better performance than the monolithic CIL (JSC = 25.66 mA cm−2, FF = 73.71%, PCE = 15.52%). This work explains the way of electron transport in the cathode interface layer and provides a method for further optimization of the CIL.

Nano-Sized Polyelectrolyte Complexes Formed between Poly(vinyl benzyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) and Insulin

Novel biohybrid homo-polyelectrolyte-based nanocarriers were formed by the complexation of insulin (INS) with a biocompatible and cationic polyelectrolyte, namely, poly(vinyl benzyl trimethylammonium chloride) (PVBTMAC). According to light-scattering techniques, the hydrophilic PVBTMAC homo-polyelectrolyte forms single chains in aqueous media. The resulting biohybrid PVBTMAC/INS nanocarriers were formed via electrostatic co-assembly. The effects of polyelectrolyte structure and content on the characteristics of the formed PVBTMAC/INS complexes were studied. A significant aggregation tendency of the PVBTMAC/INS complexes was observed, based on the physicochemical results, especially at high protein concentration, corroborating the effective electrostatic interaction of INS with the cationic polyelectrolyte. The physicochemical properties of the formed PVBTMAC/INS nanocarriers depended on the concentration of the stock polymer and INS solutions. A neat PVBTMAC homo-polymer and PVBTMAC/INS nanocarriers demonstrated good serum stability in the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) proteins. Fluorescence spectroscopy (FS) studies revealed no INS conformational changes after its complexation with the cationic PVBTMAC polyelectrolyte. The obtained PVBTMAC/INS complexes demonstrated considerable and promising characteristics for potential use as insulin delivery systems.

Entropy and Entropic Forces to Model Biological Fluids.

Living cells are complex systems characterized by fluids crowded by hundreds of different elements, including, in particular, a high density of polymers. They are an excellent and challenging laboratory to study exotic emerging physical phenomena, where entropic forces emerge from the organization processes of many-body interactions. The competition between microscopic and entropic forces may generate complex behaviors, such as phase transitions, which living cells may use to accomplish their functions. In the era of big data, where biological information abounds, but general principles and precise understanding of the microscopic interactions is scarce, entropy methods may offer significant information. In this work, we developed a model where a complex thermodynamic equilibrium resulted from the competition between an effective electrostatic short-range interaction and the entropic forces emerging in a fluid crowded by different sized polymers. The target audience for this article are interdisciplinary researchers in complex systems, particularly in thermodynamics and biophysics modeling.

Theory of Long-Lived Room-Temperature Phosphorescence in Organic Aggregates.

ConspectusRoom-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with a long afterglow from purely organic molecular aggregates has recently attracted many investigations because traditionally only inorganic and transition-metal complexes can emit phosphorescence at room temperature. Purely organic molecules can exhibit phosphorescence only at cryogenic temperatures and under inert conditions in solution. However, recently, a number of organic compounds have been found to demonstrate bright RTP upon aggregation, sometimes with a remarkable morphology dependence. We intended to rationalize such aggregation-induced organic RTP through theoretical investigation and quantum chemistry calculations by invoking intermolecular interaction effects. And we have identified the molecular descriptors for the molecular design of RTP materials.In this Account, we started with the proposition of the mechanism of intermolecular electrostatic-interaction-induced RTP at the molecular level by using molecular dynamics simulations, hybrid quantum mechanics, and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) coupled with the thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF) formalism we developed earlier. The effective intermolecular electrostatic interactions could stem from a variety of interactions in different organic RTP crystals, such as hydrogen bonding, π-halogen bonding, anion-π+ interaction, and d-pπ bonds and so forth. We find that these interactions can change the molecular orbital compositions involved in the lowest-lying singlet and triplet excited states that are responsible for phosphorescence, either through facilitating intersystem crossing from the excited-state singlet to the triplet and/or suppressing the nonradiative decay process from the lowest triplet to the ground state. This underlying RTP mechanism is believed to be very helpful in systematically and comprehensively understanding the aggregation/crystal-induced persistent organic RTP, which has been applied to explain a number of experiments.We then propose the molecular descriptors to characterize the phosphorescence efficiency and lifetime, respectively, derived from fundamental photophysical processes and requirements to obey the El-Sayed rule and generate phosphorescence. For a prototypical RTP system consisting of a carbonyl group and π-conjugated segments, the excited states can be regarded as an admixture of n → π* (with portion α) and π → π* (with portion β). The intersystem crossing (ISC) rate of S1 → Tn is mostly governed by the modification of the product of α and β, and the nonradiative rate of T1 → S0 is determined by the β value of T1. Thus, we employ γ = α × β and β to describe the phosphorescence efficiency and lifetime, respectively, which have been successfully applied in the molecular design of efficient and long-lived RTP systems in experiments. The molecular descriptors outlined in this Account, which are easily obtained from simple quantum chemistry calculations, are expected to play important roles in the machine-learning-based molecular screening in the future.

Inter-surface effective electrostatic interactions in the presence of surface charge discreteness and solvent granularity

Effects of relative arrangement of discrete surface charges and solvent granularity on the effective potential of mean force (EPMF) are studied. Main conclusions are summarized as follows: (i) With consideration of the solvent granularity the EPMF always becomes more attractive, and one like charge attraction always appears even if the counter-ion is univalent. Moreover, with transition from asymmetrical to symmetrical surface charge distributions of similar surface charge compactness, attraction strength of the EPMF always rises; with increase of the counter-ion valence the EPMF attraction strength rises unless the surface charge configuration is asymmetrical and less compact and the counter-ion high-valence. (ii) Whether the surface charge distribution is asymmetrical or symmetrical, the EPMF tends to become more attractive in the compactness charge configuration than in the non-compactness charge configuration. (iii) The correlation between the EPMF attraction strength and bulk mole concentration can be positive or negative depending on the counter-ion valence, compactness of surface charge distribution, and average surface charge strength. Highly taking value of each of the three quantities helps in inducing one negative correlation and vice versa. (iv) Co-ion size has almost no influence on the EPMF, increasing or decreasing the counter-ion size inhibits or enhances the solvent granularity effect.

Switching of Electron and Ion Conductions by Reversible H2O Sorption in n-Type Organic Semiconductors

Polar H2O molecules generally act as trapping sites and suppress the electron mobility of n-type organic semiconductors, making chemical design of H2O-tolerant and responsive n-type semiconductors an important step toward multifunctional electron-ion coupling devices. The introduction of effective electrostatic interactions between potassium ions (K+) and carboxylate (-COO-) anions into the electron-transporting naphthalenediimide π-framework enables the design of high-performance H2O-tolerant n-type semiconductors with a reversible H2O adsorption-desorption ability, where the electron mobility and K+ ionic conductivity were coupled with the reversible H2O sorption behavior. The reversible H2O adsorption into the crystals enhanced the electron mobility from 0.04 to 0.28 cm2 V-1 s-1, whereas the K+ ionic conductivity decreased from 3.4 × 10-5 to 4.7 × 10-7 S cm-1. Because this reversible electron-ion conducting switch is responsive to H2O sorption behavior, it is a strong candidate for H2O gating carrier transport systems.

Sub-second electrochromic switching and ultra-high coloration efficiency in halloysite nanoclay incorporated metallo-supramolecular polymer nano-hybrid based electrochromic device

Herein, we have synthesized a series of polymer nano-hybrids (polyFe-hHNT-2, polyFe-hHNT-5, and polyFe-hHNT-10) of an electrochromic metallo-supramolecular polymer (polyFe) with a modified tubular hydroxylated halloysite nanoclay (hHNT) by effective electrostatic interaction through ion exchange. The spectroscopic studies exhibit the operative interaction and composite formation between hHNT and polyFe while the structural characterizations through X-ray diffraction reveal the intercalation of polymer chains into rolled hHNT layers. The morphological investigations manifest the significant decrement of the diameter of hHNT tubes after nanocomposite formation by intercalation induced exfoliation of rolled hHNT nanotubes through interaction with polyFe polymer chains in inner and outer surfaces. The incorporated hHNTs enhance the thermal stability and ionic conductivity in the nanocomposite. The composite based electrochromic devices (ECDs) exhibit a fairly stable EC color change from purple to transparent under a controlled potential switching from -2 V to +3 V. The electrochromic switching times are considerably improved by 82% for bleaching (2.95 s → 0.53 s) and 47.2% for coloring (0.72 s → 0.38 s) in polyFe-hHNT-5 composite compare to pristine polyFe based ECD. The chronoamperometric study confirms the charge required to change the color is also significantly decreased in the composites due to swift counter ion diffusion, better ionic conductivity and effective charge neutralization by the anionic sites of hHNTs in composites. Hence, the coloration efficiency is also enhanced in composite ECDs to provide ~117.8% raise of coloration efficiency (263.05 → 572.77 cm2 C-1) compared to pristine polyFe. Therefore, the present work can provide a viable strategy to improve the electrochromic parameters of an electrochromic polymer.

New approaches to tumor therapy with siRNA-decorated and chitosan-modified PLGA nanoparticles

Objective: In this study, we aimed to develop a candidate modifited polymeric nanoparticle (NP) system that will kill cancer cells by facilitated to apoptosis and also reduce pain.Significance: The primary goal of treatment, especially for metastatic cancers, is to control the growth of the cancer and to alleviate the symptoms. Pain is one of the commonest symptoms of cancer. In cancer treatment, directing cancer cells to death while simultaneously relieving pain will be a new approach.Methods: Chitosan-modified PLGA NPs were prepared using an nanoprecipitation technique. The NPs were loaded with flurbiprofen and decorated with folic acid. STAT3-siRNA was adsorbed to these polymeric NPs using antisense technology.Results: The NPs were small in size (176.9–220.3 nm) with positive zeta potential (+14.1 mV to +27.2 mV). They had high loading capacity and prolonged release properties over 144 hours. Cytotoxicity studies performed with siRNA showed effective electrostatic interaction due to the positively charged NPs. Folic acid facilitated entry into cancer cells and helped to kill them.Conclusion: The formulation we developed is a potential carrier system for both treatment of cancer and prevention of pain, especially for metastatic cancers.

Investigation about validity of the Derjaguin approximation for electrostatic interactions for a sphere-sphere system

Validity of the Derjaguin approximation for sphere-sphere electrostatic interactions is investigated by explicitly determining the interactions between two spherical colloids using classical density functional theory (CDFT) solved in bispherical coordinates. The validity rules are summarized as follows. (i) For 1:1 type electrolyte, the Derjaguin approximation is effective for colloid sphere having a diameter down to three times the ion diameter only if the bulk concentration is higher than 0.1 M. (ii) With presence of higher-valence counter-ion, the threshold value bulk concentration rises, and increasing the colloid sphere diameter can lower greatly the threshold value bulk concentration. Encouragingly, over the valid parameter region of the Derjaguin approximation a like-charge attraction can be reproduced accurately. (iii) Both too low and too high surface charge strengths contribute to lower the quality of the Derjaguin approximation; increasing the medium permittivity or system temperature improves the accuracy of the Derjaguin approximation. (iv) Based on the mechanism analysis on the above observations, it is concluded that what matters in determining the validity of the Derjaguin approximation is the potential range of the pure inter-surface electrostatic interactions and the local Debye length rather than the bulk Debye length. Besides, the different expressivity of the influencing factors causing the effective inter-surface electrostatic interactions at different conditions determines the behavior the Derjaguin approximation deviates from the full CDFT calculations.